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User blog:TechCaptain/What Not to do with Astra Militarum Regiments
Things NOT to Do When Creating a Homebrew Regiment Here are a few finally things you should NOT do when writing a Homebrew Astra Militarum Regiment: Do NOT claim your Regiment fills a specialty that another Imperial Organization does Astra Militarum are foremost amongst the defenders of humanity, the most numerous of the Emperor of Mankind's warriors. They are human all, but The High Lords and other organizations have placed severe limitations on formations and units since the heresy. Any complex system that relies heavily on dogma and protocol is subject to interpretation, and differences in such interpretation can lead to schism and discord. The Administratum is no exception to this. Petty bickering, internal politics, and departmental rivalries can all cause problems within the Administratum, both on the larger and local scales, although the organisation is often at pains to never let such disputes show to outsiders. While these minor disputes rarely amount to much in the grand scheme of things, their aftereffects can have wider ramifications, like the ripples spreading from a stone dropped into a still pool. Support units, such as heavy weapons platoons and much-valued specialist units, such as battle tanks, artillery, Rough Riders and Abhuman squads, may be attached to a company for a single battle or the entire duration of a campaign. These are rarely permanent additions and are attached as needed by the regimental commanders. It is a common practice, especially amongst armoured and artillery regiments, to break down several companies and second them to infantry forces, granting heavy firepower to the platoons whilst providing troop support for the vehicles. If serving together for extended durations, attached units tend to adopt their foster-regiment's uniform and unit markings. This not only helps to avoid friendly-fire incidents, but also aids in promoting comradeship with the soldiers they will be fighting and dying alongside. Aeronautica Imperialis The Aeronautica Imperialis is the branch of the Imperial Navy that is dedicated to atmospheric combat aviation. The Aeronautica Imperialis usually works in conjunction with the Astra Militarum to provide combat transportation and tactical and strategic air support for its ground forces. Squadrons of Valkyries, and their sister gunships the Vendettas, operate in much closer cohesion with the Astra Militarum. Only a rare few get an exception to have these pilots to be apart of their Regiments and these are usually the Integrated Elements like Harakoni and Elysia. Even Rarer are those that solely fly these vehicles and are considered guard like https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Phantine_Air_Corps Phantine Air Corps. These are the exceptions not the rule. Adeptus Astra Telepathica There are those whose value to the Astra Militarum and the wider Imperium itself outweighs the rabid moral repugnance they evoke. Most notable amongst these are the Warp-sensitive psykers of the Scholastica Psykana. The untrained psyker is a beacon to the daemons of the Warp, his lack of control and improper absence of self-loathing presenting a deadly danger to all. Some of the psykers recruited into the Adeptus Astra Telepathica are trained to serve within the Astra Militarum as Sanctioned Psykers rather than as Astropaths. These psykers may draw upon the power of the Warp, unleashing it upon their enemies as a weapon. They are also called upon to advise high-ranking Imperial Guard officers, though with varying degrees of success. These are the psykers used in the guard, there are not going to be entire regiments of psykers as they are considered too dangerous and the Telepathica 'owns' them. Blanks, also known as untouchables, pariahs and psychic nulls, are an exceedingly rare type of human mutant that possesses no presence in the Warp. The Sisters of Silence were the military arm of the Astra Telepathica during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The Sisters were unique in that they were a military force consisting entirely of blanks. So no regiments of Blanks are running around. Militarum Auxilla The Militarum Auxilla is a specialist division of the Astra Militarum that contains most of the Abhuman units of the Imperial Guard. As the nascent Imperium regained contact with the rest of Humanity during the Great Crusade, its servants discovered populations that had developed into true human sub-species. Most of these Abhumans were killed, but some, such as the Ratlings and Ogryns, proved their worth as specialists in the Militarum Auxilla. Indoctrinated in the Imperial Creed, they are taught self-loathing, and watched closely by the Commissars and Priests of the Adeptus Ministorum. The small numbers and specialised abilities of Abhuman soldiers mean that Ogryn and Ratling regiments are almost always split for distribution to more conventional Astra Militarum formations. Abhumans evoke revulsion in their genetic cousins, for whom the degenerate inhumanity of their forms is only a step from the heresy of mutation. They must be constantly watched by Commissars and Priests alike for any signs of excess deviancy, and are taught self-disgust and a desire to atone for their failures of birth through honest toil in the Emperor's name. However, these squads have proven their worth time and again. Such units as Magogg's Ratling Rifles in the Damocles Crusade, and the Anark Zeta 88th Bullgryn regiment who carried the breach during the siege of Gregoria, have won great fame. As such mixed Abhuman and Human Regiments are reality Regiments with attached sections or detachments from this separate branch of the military. Adeptus Ministorum A Preacher is the lowest ranking member of the Imperial clergy within the Ecclesiarchy. They are known as the Defenders of the Faith. Often individual regiments of the Imperial Guard and vessels of the Imperial Navy are accompanied by dozens of Preachers, many of whom regard it as their duty to personally take the field of battle and provide religious inspiration to those in their care. A Preacher is also the rank of Ministorum priest who is given a parish of his own to run which is centred on an Imperial shrine. A Preacher is the priest of the Imperial Cult who will have the most day-to-day contact with ordinary worshipers. Especially vigorous and charismatic Preachers may be lucky enough to be promoted to become Confessors. In the wake of Vandire's downfall, Sebastian Thor was declared the 292nd Ecclesiarch and the Imperium began the long process of rebuilding. Perhaps the most sweeping of changes Thor instigated affected the military forces over which the Ministorum held sway. What remained of the Frateris Templars was disbanded, under the terms of the so-called Decree Passive, which forbade the Adeptus Ministorum from controlling any "men under arms." Never again would the Ecclesiarchy threaten the continued rule of the Administratum. Preachers are attached and belong to the regiment they belong to. Regiments of Emperor Worshipers is fine, Regiments of Preachers are not. Look to the Sisters of Battle for the Combat arm of the Ecclesiarchy. Frateris Militia The Frateris Militia are the unofficial armies of the Ministorum made up of religious zealots who will fight for their faith. The religiously-motivated Frateris fight Wars of Faith against the enemies of the Imperium, often led by a particularly fanatical Confessor, though these forces are rarely well-trained or equipped. Members of the Frateris Militia are not professional soldiers, and receive no training in their role. However, their faith is strong, and they often go on to perform great and terrible deeds in the name of the Master of Mankind. This is the Male fighting arm of Ministorum. Adeptus Mechanicus The soldiers of the Astra Militarum are not the only element of the Imperial war machine that requires the ministrations of a priesthood. The Adeptus Mechanicus are masters of arcane automation and technological mysticism, who look to the provision and well-being of the Imperial Guard's countless engines of war. Without these lore-keepers of high technology there would be no voidships to carry the Imperial Guard between worlds, and no weapons with which to hold back the countless foes that seek to overwhelm Mankind. By virtue of the ancient Treaty of Mars, many Enginseers are attached to the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy, maintaining and repairing the Imperium's vehicles, aircraft, starships, and other wargear and ensuring that the warriors who prosecute the Emperor's wars always have the means to do so. These cybernetic holy men stand aloof from the Imperial Guardsmen, concerned only with tending to the Machine Spirits of their foster regiment's many vehicles and weaponry. Having Guard Regiments of Engiseers or admech violates the Treaty of Mars. Having Technical Savvy Operators or of specific equipment is fine, having them have access to the secrets of technology is not. The Skitarii is the Guard of Admech, and such the Astra Militarum does not get unrestricted access to Forge Worlds and the like. Officio Assassinorum The Officio Assassinorum (Office of Assassins) is a subdivision of the Administratum responsible for the recruitment, training, and deployment of elite assassins. Assassins are recruited at a very young age, from the orphans of Imperial servants raised in the Schola Progenium1, and from the populations of feral worlds. Prospective candidates are tested mercilessly even as they are shipped to Terra, pitted against hazardous environments as well as each other, with perhaps one in ten surviving the journey. So Offico Assassins are part of that organization and would not be good fodder for the Meatgrinder of the Imperial Guard. Do NOT make combined arms Tactical Regiments Although there are many different classes of Astra Militarum regiment, each one is largely uniform in its tactical composition. Infantry regiments, for example, are unlikely to contain much or any heavy artillery, whilst tank regiments contain little or no infantry. Success requires Astra Militarum regiments to work together. Whilst this interdependence may at first seem like an inherent weakness, it is a necessary precaution. Should a regiment rebel against the Emperor, the Traitors will not have access to the supporting units needed to prosecute a full-scale war. When the Ocanan 15th declared its allegiance to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos it had little in the way of either heavy armour or artillery support and was unable to compete against the "combined arms" forces of the Cadian 17th Armoured and Elysian 110th Drop-Troop Regiments sent to eliminate them. Each Militarum Regimentum comprises multiple regiments, all of which come from the same planet. Because of the shared culture and fighting styles of regiments sourced from a single world, soldiers, officers and even officials of the Departmento Munitorum often interchange the term "Militarum Regimentum" and "regiment," referring to all Guardsmen from Cadia as being from the "Cadian Regiment." On their homeworlds, the forces who serve to defend the planet may have been split into battalions, divisions, cohorts, militia groups, geno-corps and a host of other formation names and compositions, but in the Astra Militarum these are all different types of regiment. Some planets are able to raise a variety of regiments. Cadia or Armageddon, for example, are huge worlds embroiled in seemingly endless wars whose populace are given ample opportunity to train in various aspects of warfare. By comparison, other worlds take great and often justifiable pride in their reputation for training a specific kind of regiment to exceptional standards. There are exceptions to this in very specific and small ways of how various leadership has gotten around this rule. But this should be carefully considered on how and why one is doing this. In general, there are four reasons why a mixed regiment would even be formed: *The first is for regiments that were created from multiple different regiments at some point in the past, and now function as a single combat group. Though such regiments have likely become cohesive fighting units, honed to work together effectively by the rigours of the battlefield, the original elements often maintain a sense of identity, even within the whole, thanks to their different training doctrines, leaders, and histories. *The second case covers regiments that are merged over the course of a campaign. A regiment might suffer terrible losses and, when reduced below fighting capacity, be pushed together with another under-strength regiment by the quill of a Departmento Munitorum bureaucrat—whether or not the two (or more) regiments have complementary cultures and practices or even fill similar roles on the battlefield. In this case, adding a regiment to another of a very different character, bringing in new soldiers who have different and potentially conflicting views on warfare, social values, and the nature of one’s duty to the God-Emperor. This is usually mixing those regiments who as far as a bureaucrat are of the same designation, i.e. Infantry, Armor, etc. but not necessarily so. *A third use for Mixed Regiments is in adding small numbers of outsiders to a regiment instead of folding in vast numbers of soldiers (as above). A small band of survivors from an annihilated regiment might be assigned to a new regiment in this way, or an auxiliary squad or individual who has recently joined a regiment and has not yet acclimated to its culture and tactics. *A fourth case that Mixed Regiments can be used to tackle is that of a single, unified fighting force that nonetheless fields radically different elements, such as Rough Riders and Mechanised Infantry. In such a case, it is only natural that the different elements would promote different skills in the troopers of the line, even if they are part of the same regiment and have served alongside one another for years, and the Mixed Regiment rules can cover this case by allowing for different elements of the regiment to use different doctrines despite sharing all other factors. In all these cases the original Regiments met Departmento Munitorum standard first. And most of these cases are rare to differing degrees. Do not have your regiments handle other organizations support The local Adepts of the Departmento Munitorum in an Imperial sub-sector have the legal authority to impose instant tithes, without forewarning, as and when required. Because of this, true central command over the Imperial Guard's logistics from Terra is not needed or even advantageous, due to the functional autonomy of each level of the organisation. The Departmento Munitorum does not handle logistics for the Adeptus Astartes or for the Adepta Sororitas' Orders Militant, as each Space Marine Chapter is a fully self-contained military organisation and the Sisters of Battle depend on the Ecclesiarchy to serve their administrative and logistical needs. Category:Blog posts